5 Reasons Stress Is Messing with Your Skin

Feeling stressed can leave you feeling overwhelmed, but did you know it can affect your skin too? The more stressed you are, the less healthy your skin will look and feel. Discover 5 reasons it messes with your skin, and how you can combat it for a clear complexion below…

Stress Hormones Increase

Stress hormone cortisol increases when you’re under pressure, which causes blood flow to concentrate more on your muscles and organs rather than your skin. When this happens, skin becomes deprived of oxygen and other essential nutrients and oil glands go into overdrive. In return, skin can become red, inflamed and suffer with breakouts. Taking time to relax can decrease this hormone imbalance, helping to protect your skin.

Sleep Is Affected

When you’ve got a lot going on, sleep quality becomes poorer. As your body takes the most time to self-repair during the night whilst you rest, the lack of sleep will take its toll on your skin. In time, it causes more pronounced lines, dull and tired skin, and of course, the dreaded eye bags. Use eye patches to reduce swelling, then gently dab on some concealer to hide the dark circles for a fresher, more awake complexion.

Worsens Existing Conditions

If you already suffer with a chronic skin condition such as eczema, rosacea or psoriasis, stress can cause them to flare up. Worsening symptoms, the best way to get them under control is to de-stress. Aim to cut out negativity and stressful situations to make things easier to handle. Doing this paired with dermatological treatment should be enough to reduce symptoms of your skin condition.

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Blood Sugar Rises

As you become stressed, the hormone cortisol triggers a process called glycation, which elevates your blood sugar levels. When this happens, the protein fibres collagen and elastin which keep skin plump and smooth are damaged. Luckily, you can prevent the damaging effects by regularly using a retinol booster to help re-build those fibres, therefore maintaining skin health.

Healing Becomes Slower

Finally, all of the above issues caused by stress contributes to a lowered immune system. As your immunity is reduced, it impairs skin barrier function by breaking down the skin’s protective layer. Due to this, any healing processes become significantly delayed as your body attempts to combat the stress rather than focusing on repairing skin damage. By taking steps to reduce stress, it can speed the healing process back up.